Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

The Things They Say!

This is a good opportunity to say thanks to BSH for their support of the jazz scene in the North East (and beyond) - it's no exaggeration to say that if it wasn't for them many, many fine musicians, bands and projects across a huge cross section of jazz wouldn't be getting reviewed at all, because we're in the "desolate"(!) North. (M & SSBB on F/book 23/12/24)

Postage

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Fri 09: The House Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Fri 09: Nauta @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Trio: Jacob Egglestone, Jamie Watkins, Bailey Rudd.
Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Warren James & the Lonesome Travellers @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 09: The Blue Kings @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv.). All-star band.

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Monday, September 20, 2021

Liam Byrne Quartet @ the Railway, Stockport - Sept. 19

Liam Byrne (tenor sax); Andrzej Baranek (keys); Anthony Ormishe Gavin Barras (bass).

This turned out to be another drummerless line-up but, due to the expertise of the musicians involved, the end result still swung and the tempos held solid. The opening number Just in Time got things going nicely and set the vibe for the rest of the evening and if I had to give a description it would be mainstream with a touch of modern bebop. Ten tunes were played, five in each set and one which went down well with the regulars was that much played standard Body And Soul. Baranek really took off on this followed by Byrne playing the final chorus and showing that he knows his way around the tenor saxophone.


Guitarist Ormisher is well known on the Liverpool Jazz Scene although I remember seeing him at the Railway a few years ago on one of Andrzej Baranek’s trio gigs. I see from his web-site that he attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1977 before returning to Liverpool and getting valuable experience in bands lead by Frank Griffith and John McCormack’s  organisation Parr Jazz. His solo on the Sonny Rollins classic Airegin showed that he could handle tricky bop tunes without much trouble.


One number that had me puzzled was a blues that sounded familiar but this turned out to be  Stoned, a number from the pen of Wardell Grey according to Liam.


Next gig at the Railway is another sax player Alex Clarke and her Quartet Tuesday Sept. 21. Mike Farmer


Just in Time; What is This Thing Called Love?; How Deep is the Ocean?; Stoned; September Song; Its’s All Right With Me; In A Mellow Tone; Airegin; Body and Soul; Cottontail.

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